


Numbed

by aravenwood



Series: Whumptober 2020 [9]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Broken Bones, Gen, Hurt Danny "Danno" Williams, Hurt/Comfort, Shock, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 09:15:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26969578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aravenwood/pseuds/aravenwood
Summary: Danny is hit by a car and breaks his arm. Steve doesn't immediately realise how bad it is.Written for the Whumptober 2020 prompt "broken bones".
Relationships: Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams
Series: Whumptober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947343
Comments: 6
Kudos: 118
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Numbed

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I decided to take a break from writing Old Guard fics to return to Hawaii Five-O for a fic or two - can't have Danny missing out on the fun, eh?
> 
> Can someone please go back in time and tell me from September to prep more for this month as opposed to writing two fics for the latter half of the month? The lack of organisation is catching up with me a little bit...
> 
> Thank you for reading and please enjoy!

Steve knows what shock is. He’s been trained in recognising and treating it and has done so hundreds of times in all kinds of situations for all different reasons. He knows the dull look and the tremors, knows the confusion as if the entire world is a mystery which cannot be solved.

He’s seen it all before, and yet it takes a stupidly long time to recognise the symptoms in Danny, even when he knows he’s supposed to be looking for them. Getting hit by a car is traumatic after all, and Steve already knows from the way Danny is hugging his arm close to his chest that it’s broken.

The first sign should have been the silence. Danny is remarkably quiet as they march halfway across the city centre to get back to the car. He trails a little behind Steve, his steps sluggish at best. Steve can hear him panting from a few feet ahead, but he figures that it’s from the chase - they did chase a guy for at least ten minutes and that’s a lot of hard sprinting on top of dodging around people and obstacles, it’s bound to tire Danny out.

So he writes it off as nothing.

But then Danny’s falling even further behind, and even stops at one point to lean against a wall with his head down. Steve sighs and wants to roll his eyes, but it’s unfair not to cut the other man some slack when he’s literally walking around with a broken arm. Instead he stops, turns around and waits for Danny to be finished. He’s looking a little green around the gills but then he’s also staring down at his arm with an expression of vague horror, presumably at the swelling and deep bruising around his forearm. One finger on his good arm twitches like he wants to poke it, and he flinches sharply as Steve shouts a warning to him.

He should be snapping back that he’s not an idiot, that he’s broken bones before so of course he knows not to poke it thank you very much. But he’s quiet, just nods his head and forces himself to stand up straight. He doesn’t start walking again until Steve does.

A few minutes later, Danny stops walking again.

“Come on, Danno. We’re almost there, another few minutes and you can sit down and I’ll drive you to the hospital. What you gonna tell Grace, huh? Bet you taught her to look at the road when she’s crossing and then you go and do this. She’ll never let you live it down.” Ok, so maybe Steve mentions Grace on purpose. If anything will get Danny going, get him moving once more, it’s her name. It’s like a trigger word, like he’s been conditioned to respond to it.

Maybe that’s what parenting does, Steve considers. It conditions you to act when you hear your kid’s name. Or maybe it’s something else, something totally different. Steve huffs out a laugh. What does he know?

Danny mumbles an answer but his voice is quiet and unsteady, and even Steve can’t figure out what he’s saying. Finally he starts to feel uneasy, looking Danny up and down with narrowed eyes - something else Danny should be commenting on. It’s then that he notices how pale Danny is, with even the greenish tinge gone from his skin. His eyes don’t seem to focus on Steve, instead looking right through him with a distant stare which is almost haunting.

His hands are shaking.

Fuck.

Steve finally jumps into action. He closes the distance between the two of them and presses the back of his hand against Danny’s forehead, finding cold, clammy skin. “Fuck, come on Danny why didn’t you say anything?” he whispers, even though he knows that the confusion Danny’s feeling probably stopped him from recognising what’s happening.

Danny blinks sluggishly and lowers his gaze to look at his arm again. He looks too much like a lost puppy for Steve’s liking.

“Hey Danny? Come on, can you hear me? Why don’t we sit down, huh? Come on, down we go,” Steve says and lightly pulls Danny down with him until they’re both kneeling on the sidewalk - thank god the street is fairly quiet or this would be difficult. “Ok, that’s good Danny. Hey, I’m going to call Chin, ok? I’ll get him to pick us up and we’ll get you checked out, how’s that sound bud?”

He gets no response, just slow blinking followed by a sigh. Danny slumps forwards, his movements slow and careful to protect his arm, and he rests his forehead on Steve’s shoulder as shock and pain drain the last dregs of energy.

Steve instinctively lifts a hand to cup Danny’s head. With his free hand, he digs his phone from a pocket and calls Chin, explaining the situation quickly and thanking the other man profusely as he promises to pick them up.

And then, all there’s left to do is wait. He wraps his other arm around Danny’s shoulders, tightening his hold a little against the shivers. “It’s ok,” he says quietly, rocking the body with slow, careful movements. “You’re gonna be fine. Absolutely fine.”

It’s just a broken arm, he tells himself. That’s all. And Danny will be fine, as scary as this is right now.

He’ll be up and around in no time, cast on his arm and ranting and raving about how it’s somehow Steve’s fault that he got hit by a car and his fault that the cast is bright purple - because Steve will insist on it, and he knows that a bright colour will make it easier for Grace to look at it - and his fault that he can’t drive for several weeks even though he never gets to drive anyway.

But right now, all Steve can do is wait.

-

“Purple, Steven! Purple! How am I going to look professional with a bright purple cast? Are you trying to make me a laughing stock, is that it?” Danny rants, his good arm flapping towards his cast as a demonstration - as if Steve has been able to take his eyes off it since he entered the room.

“I think it’s pretty, Danno,” Grace hums sweetly. “It’s like…it’s like how my bedroom used to be! Before we got it painted because I don’t like purple anymore…”

Steve snorts. “See Danny? It’s pretty!”

Danny’s eyes narrow but he doesn’t argue, not when Grace is smiling at him. “Yeah sweetie, it is pretty. But you know…Daddy’s more of an orange kinda guy, you know?” he reasons. But Grace just keeps grinning, saying nothing, and finally he caves. “Ok you’re right. It’s pretty. And I guess I can get used to it.”

“Yaaaaay,” Grace cheers, and Steve just grins. He’ll never mention it, but he’s just enjoying hearing Danny speak again. A quiet Danny is a hurt Danny, and the last thing Steve ever wants to see is his partner and best friend hurt.

It just shouldn’t be allowed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
